(EnergyAsia, February 9 2010, Tuesday) — US-owned Independent Power Producer (IPP) Azure Power said it has commissioned half of a proposed two-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) project in the village of Awan in Punjab state in India. The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) provided the loan to finance the Rs190 million project. (US$1=Rs46). Under a...
(EnergyAsia, February 9 2010, Tuesday) — A Queensland state government consortium, which includes South Korea’s KEPCO, has launched a bid for A$100 million in federal funds to build a demonstration smart electricity grid for Australia. (US$1=A$1.1). Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Stephen Robertson said Queensland’s demonstration grid would show how promising new technologies...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — Indonesia said its biofuels production plunged 96% to 104,100 kiloliters last year as most producers ceased operations on account of the soaring price of crude palm oil and uncertainty over government policies. The price of palm oil, the main raw material for biofuels, surged by more than 57%...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — The recent inauguration of the Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline connecting Turkmenistan’s vast gas field to Iran’s northern Caspian region could improve Tehran’s gas export capabilities and energy security. The pipeline, the second between the two nations, will initially pump eight billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas a year, rising...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — Husky Energy Inc and BP said they are making progress in developing their equally owned Sunrise oil sands project in Canada’s Alberta province. The companies said they have completed front-end engineering and design (FEED) work for the project’s first phase, and have obtained the regulatory approvals from the government...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — A-Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd, a Nasdaq-listed manufacturer of wind turbines, said it has delivered 10 units of 2.7 MW wind turbines to customers in China. Last September, the company signed a contract to develop a 49.5MW wind farm in the township of Saiwusu, Guba County, Inner Mongolia, for...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — GE said it has secured a new order to supply 88 wind turbines to HECIC New Energy Co Ltd, a leading Chinese wind energy developer, for three new projects in Hebei and Shanxi provinces. The projects will support the rapid growth of wind energy investments in China, which currently...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it and the Japanese government are providing support to landlocked, mountainous Bhutan to counter the harmful impacts of climate change on its rivers. The Japan Special Fund, financed by the Japanese government and administered by ADB, is providing a $700,000 grant for building up...
(EnergyAsia, February 8 2010, Monday) — Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s biggest state refiner, is in talks with the Uttar Pradesh state government to acquire 50,000 hectares of wasteland for the cultivation of non-edible oil seeds such as jatropha and karanjia for biodiesel production. IOC now has access to 30,000 hectares of wasteland in Chhattisgarah...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — Players in India’s auto market have expressed doubts about the viability of the electric car. R. C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, has questioned the objective of launching electric vehicles in India if the electricity is to be supplied from coal-fired power plants. The country derives 70% of its...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — Chinese auto and battery maker BYD Co may start selling a rechargeable electric car in the US in 2010, one year of schedule, the company has said. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc owns a 10% stake in the company, which is emerging as a key player in the electric...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — The last decade ending 2009 has emerged as the hottest on record with the surface temperate averaging 0.54 degrees Celsius above normal, shattering the 1990s record of 0.36 degrees Celsius above normal. Also, 2009 became the fifth warmest year on record with a temperature of 0.56 degrees Celsius above...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — The article below was written by Gregory R. Copley for Oilprice.com. There is a widespread belief that the world has “ducked the strategic bullet” of global economic collapse, but this is merely the delusionary euphoria of the severely wounded patient. Severe structural damage has occurred to the key driver...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — China may have stated its intention to reduce dependence on coal and to increase the use of renewable energy for power generation, but the country is expected to remain carbon-dependent for decades to come. More than 90% of China’s electricity is now derived from coal-fired power plants. The Shenhua...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has begun producing biodiesel at its plant in southern Hainan province. The first such project operated by the state firm, the plant has the capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year. Using oil from the jatropha crop, the plant is...
(EnergyAsia, February 5 2010, Friday) — Ten international companies have approached the Cambodian government for permission to invest in solar energy projects in the country following its removal of a 15% duty on imported building materials for solar power plants. The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy said the companies have applied to build solar-powered...
(EnergyAsia, February 4 2010, Thursday) — A South Korean consortium has secured a major agreement to help develop solar and wind power projects to generate 2,500MW of electricity for Canada’s Ontario provincial government by 2015. The C$7-billion agreement with the consortium led by Samsung C&T Corporation and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) will triple...
(EnergyAsia, February 4 2010, Thursday) — Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia-Pacific’s first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange, said it will start trading its new fuel oil 380-centistoke futures contract (FO 380 Contract) on Monday, February 22. Based on the specifications of the residual marine grade 380 ISO 8217, the common bunker fuel oil supplied...
(EnergyAsia, February 4 2010, Thursday) — Strong Chinese demand for Australian coking coal has pushed up prices of the commodity, with further increases expected. Spot prices of coking coal are hovering at US$175 per tonne from US$145 a tonne in August, and research analysts said prices could rise to about US$200 a tonne sometime this...
(EnergyAsia, February 4 2010, Thursday) — The competition between China and Western countries for Africa’s oil and other natural resources is expected to benefit the continent. In Nigeria, the spectre of competition from China and impending legislation that would increase tax and royalty rates to be paid by foreign companies prompted international oil giants to...
(EnergyAsia, February 4 2010, Thursday) — American Superconductor Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed global power technologies company, said it has received an initial order for 100 sets of wind turbine core electrical components from China’s XJ Group Corporation. The components will be deployed in 2 megawatt (MW) doubly fed induction wind turbines that were co-developed with AMSC...
(EnergyAsia, February 4 2010, Thursday) — Australia integrated energy company, Origin Energy, said it and US-based Micron Technology Inc have formed an equal joint venture to develop photovoltaic technology. Micron, a US-listed company, is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Micron’s president and chief operating officer, Mark Durcan, said: “As we...
(EnergyAsia, February 3 2010, Wednesday) — Taiwan’s energy industry may have to invest NT$150 billion to significantly reduce carbon emissions, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). (US$1 = NTD31.87) The agency said Taiwan would need to make this investment to meet the International Energy Agency’s estimate that each country would have to...
(EnergyAsia, February 3 2010, Wednesday) — South Korean energy and chemical company OCI Company said it is investing one trillion won to expand the capacity of its polysilicon plant in Gunsan in North Jeolla province by 10,000 metric tons (mt) per year. When completed by December, the plant’s capacity will be boosted to 27,000 mt,...
(EnergyAsia, February 3 2010, Wednesday) — Africa’s oil output is expected to rise significantly over the next few years as new projects come on stream and one of its largest producers resolves domestic conflicts. Some analysts believe oil production in the continent will rise by 6% by 2011, helped by Nigeria, which has been...